The deployment will see the 2,680-guest Carnival Spirit homeport in Sydney and offer 41 sailings between January and December 2014, the majority of which will be 8 to 12 day South Pacific sailings.

Carnival Spirit is set to reach Australian shores in October this year, marking the first time Carnival Cruise Lines has homeported outside of the United States. "At Carnival Cruise Lines we have a theory, go big or go home," said the cruise line's Vice President and General Manager Australia, Jennifer Vandekreeke. "And we're not going home anytime soon, Carnival Spirit is here to stay," she added.

Vandekreeke also stated that in order to cater to Carnival Spirit's core market (30 to 50 year old couples and families who work and can't go on long cruises) the ship will feature more shorter itineraries of 8 to 10 days. "Interestingly we have also found that Australians like to leave and return to the same port," Vandekreeke said, adding that this led the cruise line to the decision to exclusively sail out of Sydney for the 2014 season.

"We have 41 sailings out of Sydney, and we're mostly exclusively going to the Pacific Islands," she

said. "These are the sailings that are selling really well for us, so we're going to continue to give Australians what they want," she added.

The 2014 cruise schedule includes 8 and 9 day itineraries to New Caledonia; 10 and 11 day itineraries to Vanuatu and New Caledonia; and 12 day sailings to Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia; as well as some 3 day weekend cruises and a 5 day Tasmania cruise.

Passengers will also be able to look forward to some changes in 2014, including the addition of the Chef's Table experience, which offers private dining for up to 12 guests and a galley tour; as well as the Taste Bar which allows guests to meet before dinner to sample appetisers and drinks for free, to give them an idea of the flavours available at all of Carnival Spirit's dining venues.

The Punchliner Comedy Brunch will also be added in 2014, which is a free of charge mid-morning lunch coupled with comedy performances from a selection of onboard entertainers.

To find out more about cruising with Carnival Spirit in 2014, call your closest Cruiseabout consultant on 1300 769 228 today.